Job Satisfaction of Vocational Agriculture Teachers in the Southeastern United States.

Abstract

Job satisfaction of vocational agriculture teachers in the Southeastern United States was examined. A total of 355 teachers from seven states--Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia, Arkansas, and North Carolina--responded to the survey. Job satisfaction was measured by the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) which had six scales--work on present job, present pay, opportunities for promotion, supervision on present job, people on the job, and job in general. Fourteen demographic variables selected to be used as independent variables were age, highest degree completed, current annual salary, years of teaching experience, number of months employed per year, average number of students per class, average number of periods (1 hour) teaching per day, enrollment of school, population of community, number of professional organizations affiliated with, sex, geographical location, marital status, and religious affiliation. Three objectives were developed--(1) to determine if the selected demographic variables significantly related to the job satisfaction of the teachers, (2) to determine if the selected demographic variables significantly predict job satisfaction of the teachers, and (3) to determine job satisfaction of vocational agriculture teachers in the Southeastern United States as compared to the norm groups of the JDI. Findings revealed that annual salary, number of months employed per year, number of professional organizations affiliated with, sex, geographical location, marital status, age, years of teaching experience, religious affiliation, and number of periods teaching per day significantly correlated to job satisfaction of the teachers. It was found that number of months employed per year, number of professional organizations affiliated with, annual salary, sex, geographical location, number of periods taught per day, and age significantly predicted job satisfaction of the teachers. The study also revealed that the teachers scored higher on three measures of job satisfaction--work on present job, supervision, and people on the job--than those of the norm groups of the JDI.